Custom gloves questions

[TheLoneW0lf]

As sort of a part 2 to my post below, I was hoping you guys could help me with questions about custom gloves.

Clamp's posts about R2C customs have sort of sold me on trying them. I wouldn't say that they're as nice-looking as Beaulieus, but they both seem to be of equivalent quality and I find myself wondering about whether or not I can justify spending the $36 difference between the two just for shiny leather and having my logo on it.

Either way, like I said I've been reading around the forums a lot and I'm just so. utterly. confused.
I've seen people ordering Winnings clones, Grant clones, Mexican and non-Style, and I have no idea what they all mean. I don't have the cash to buy all these different brands/styles to try them first hand so I'd appreciate a bit of education here:
Winnings and Grants are the best, or so I seem to read, but honestly what does that mean?
What do I lose or gain on custom ordering ordering (for example) a pair of 16 oz. R2C platinum mims vs. the Mexican geltech vs. a winnings clone vs. a grant clone?

Also, when I hear about some of you more experienced sorts talking about your gloves padding and modifying it, how really do you pick and choose about how that's done? How do you decide whether to use MiM or IMF foam, or to request a gel infusion somewhere in the glove? If you could help me out with those questions, I'd really, really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[StRatoCastR]

Ok I don't have all the answers, but I can definitely steer you in the right way, and answer most of the questions you have.

Custom gloves are going to specifically be your glove. You should be the one that dictates what goes into them, on them, and around them.

I have personally ordered more than a few pairs of custom gloves. So far Bills have been my top pick (I ordered from R2C but haven't received them yet). There is more than just shiny leather behind his glove. Custom gloves should be more about appearances although I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a factor at all.

There are many glove archetypes to choose from. You will need to pull up a browser on the side and simply look up an image to see that type.

Mexican style which are my favorite are generally short compact with a wider hand compartment. In a Reyes glove (Mexican) the padding is soft and the knuckles push through the soft padding inflicting damage to an opponent which is why it is a "puncher's" glove.

Grant style / Bills - Long and Lean, this glove is generally more rounded on the fist. Bills offer more protection than Reyes, but I cant speak for grant. Beautiful gloves overall.

Winning - Always garnered as the Most protective glove, its has tried to been replicated on numerous occasions--To my knowledge nothing compares to Winning itself. Ill let all the other guys talk about that, Ive used them , never owned and they will provide you better feedback than I would.

Grants I wouldn't say are the best, nor winning, or Reyes for that matter, it comes down to YOUR choice. I feel that Winning and Reyes are at the top, but I would be wrong to say they are THE best. Everyone's hand is different. Everyone has different taste.

Shihtzu and Myself are a good example, he likes Winning. I like Reyes, He needs Maximum hand protection, I don't.

IMF and MiM is the same thing. Just a different name. IMF - Injectable mold foam.

Layered padding is exactly that.

Gel is heavy, but disperses the shock better than the other 2, the only down side is its HEAVY. An example is if you got Title gels they advertise them at 12oz but they wind up weighing 14-15ozs.

Depending on the glove you want you can get softer, or harder padding for either foam.

You pick your foam depending on your needs. I like stiff foam for bag and pad work, soft for sparring.

As far as what you lose and what you gain for different glove types, I somewhat explained that above but again its about preference.

Custom gloves will often yield different price ranges. Custom Boxeos cost about $90 and custom grants $750 every other company in between. Let me also say do not let the price fool you.

Your question if answered fully would take years to answer btw, You should look at some of the reviews that some members have done on certain gloves you are interested in.

 

[TheLoneW0lf]

Hey man, thank you very much for that. It's answered a lot of questions for me. You're fantastic, and I really appreciate your covering those topics of mine in such detail. I do have one more relating to your experience with bills gloves:
I've read your reviews on the gloves, and you mention that there's more too the gloves than just appearances. I'm sure that's the case since they appear to be pretty quality gloves, but what specifically has that been for you?

 

[StRatoCastR]

Hey man, thank you very much for that. It's answered a lot of questions for me. You're fantastic, and I really appreciate your covering those topics of mine in such detail. I do have one more relating to your experience with bills gloves:
I've read your reviews on the gloves, and you mention that there's more too the gloves than just appearances. I'm sure that's the case since they appear to be pretty quality gloves, but what specifically has that been for you?

Just a Quick Recap of Bills gloves that I liked.

Obviously they are really well made Gloves. Stitching was spot on, Colors were Vibrant. I feel that if a glove maker, not just bill but any will pay meticulous attention to detail. In my experience, the minor details if done near perfect will reflect how good the glove turns out.

Padding: They were abit stiff out of the box, I recommend doing some light pad work to loosen them up. They became really soft perfect for sparring. Not Pillowy soft, but soft enough. Easy to make fist AFTER you do some rounds on them. Initially though, kinda stiff. When sparring I think everyone will agree softer padding is the preferred padding, no one wants to hurt their sparring partners.

I really like Bills triple cuff, I do alot of Arm blocks so the padding absorbed alot more than Im used to. Secondly the laces tuck away in the grooves nicely, and 3rdly and most important the wrist support was awesome. But lace ups are always the way to go for that.

I just like the long and lean style Bill does, Ill be honest maybe because its new to me? Who knows but still thats what I like.

The weight was pretty close to spot on, again another attention to detail item.

Youll see on some of the reviews of other comapnies whose gloves were off by 1-2 ozs, some 3-4. Not these.

Thing is about Bills gloves and Bill himself. He will not ask you every little nitnoid detail on the glove. So you really need to do your homework on what you think you may want in a glove. He will do everything perfectly mind you. He just wont ask you, oh what about the cuff how do you want that? Or do you want mesh palms? This is the only thing you should be leary about and draw it out on paper, you should do that for EVERY custom glove anyhow. Its not just about the colors, those are whatever. But think about Padding, Cuff, Palms, Split thumb, Lace or velcro. If velcro Wrap around or half closure? What type of padding? Soft, Medium, Hard? What is the primary purpose of the glove? Bag or Sparring?

Ask yourself all these questions and if you need help, ask around. Alot of us have customizing experience with different companies. Clamp is prolly the best to ask about R2C Customs. Winning prolly Gonz, Shihtzu, and Majik, theres alot for winnings lol. Zepols Myself, Death striker, and Gixx. Bills, Mino, myself and Golden. Anyhow, Im sure I left out someone somewhere, point is ask around. Someone will help :icon_chee